HERE’S WHY 2019 IS GOING TO BE THE YEAR OF YOU

HERE’S WHY 2019 IS GOING TO BE THE YEAR OF YOU

OLIVIA PEPPER

People make all sorts of resolutions at the turn of a new year, often to abandon them within just a few days or weeks.

Sometimes that’s because the resolutions weren’t that well-intentioned – or that practical – to begin with, ie: fad diets, which are more often a health risk not a health choice. Sometimes it’s just because life has a way of catching up with us and we can’t maintain our new direction, as much as we may want (and need!) to make a change.

Well, in 2019, it’s gonna be different.

The movements of the planets strongly suggest that the first thing on our mind this year will likely be a very serious inventory of our practical goals and aspirations with a benevolent emphasis on breaking old and destructive habits. And while that type of focus tends to be par-for-the-course in our culture when it comes to ringing in a new year, this time the stars are in divine alignment with such possibilities. Breaking habits and encouraging positive change in your own life is more possible than ever with the astrology of the moment.

Why is this, you ask?

On January 2nd, 2019, we will find the sun conjunct Saturn at 11 degrees Capricorn, bringing our own egos into the matter. Pluto, our lord of secrets and dispenser of shame, hovers nearby, at 25 degrees Capricorn. Mercury and Jupiter are both anticipating the waning moon’s arrival in philosophically-active Sagittarius while Mars gets the home fires burning in his own familiar domicile of Aries.

What’s particularly remarkable about this moment in time is that we have four planets in their most proper placements: Mars in Aries, Jupiter in Sagittarius, Saturn in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces. This sense of orderliness can lend an air of clarity and refinement to the astrological patterns at play.

So first we have Mars, planet of ambition and personal drive, stationed at home in defiant, get-up-and-go Aries. We also have gabby Mercury and good-natured Jupiter palling around enhancing the quality of our luck and our beliefs about ourselves in shimmering Sagittarius. Not to mention, we have the waning moon preparing to burn away all impurities in the centaur’s fire pit before appearing as a new moon in Capricorn on January 5.

Stepping away from the fiery aspects of the moment and re-grounding, we will find an entirely different mood from Saturn, Pluto, and the sun stationed in Capricorn’s office. They’re like lawyers or detectives in a gritty noir film, working late to crack a case. The mood is dismal but productive. They’re getting somewhere, even if they have to go through hell to get there.

Meanwhile, our old frenemy Saturn has been in his domicile of Capricorn for over a year now, having ingressed on December 21, 2017, and the world has been feeling it. Saturn, after all, is the transpersonal force associated with resistance, obstacles, determination and hard-won lessons. This planet’s effects on the cosmic weather are profound, deliberate and sometimes heavy-handed, hence the hullabaloo surrounding Saturn returns in one’s natal chart.

If you have been feeling put through the wringer in the past year, good! That means it won’t hit you all at once like a ton of bricks. While the effect of this transit depends entirely on the specific makeup of your natal chart, Saturn is always transiting somewhere and it always presents challenges. On a collective level, Saturn is a force to be reckoned with, and even more so when he’s playing a home game in Capricorn.

You may have looked at the symbol associated with Capricorn and wondered, like a lot of folks: “Ok, but what the heck is a sea-goat?” Originally, this symbol was associated with a god named Enki. Enki was a very important ancient Sumerian deity associated with both earth and water whose patronage included mischief, magic, creation and knowledge. In one myth about a great cataclysm that befell humankind, Enki came to help the human beings learn agriculture after they had all knowledge and awareness taken from them.

So, the moral of the story is that Capricorn is here to help pick up the pieces after everything falls apart. Maybe that’s why Capricorn natives can be so serious sometimes!

The ancient energy of Enki, the compassionate and benevolent god whose clearest aim is to share deep wisdom with humanity, shines in this concentration of Capricornian energies. Now more than ever, the planets are lending you a hand when it comes to perfecting, directing, and nurturing the base materials of the self.

All this to say, inner alchemy is possible in 2019! Now is the time to quit smoking, hit the gym, set a strict schedule around screen-time, switch to a healthier diet, commit to therapy, get sober, or whatever else you need to do for the betterment of yourself and everyone around you.

May Mars get you started, may Jupiter bless your path, and may Saturn keep you on track.